SAN FRANCISCO, January 3, 2008 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in coordination with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), today released the draft document assessing the environmental impacts of San Diego Gas and Electric Company's (SDG&E) proposed 150-mile Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Project.

The public has 90 days to review the draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) and provide comments to the CPUC and BLM. All comments are due no later than April 11, 2008.

In compliance with federal and state environmental laws, the study considered nearly 100 alternatives to the proposed project, developing 27 of them in detail in the report. The draft study reflects input from over 1,300 different organizations and individuals who provided oral and written comments over the course of dozens of public meetings and agency consultations.

The CPUC and BLM will hold eight public workshops on environmental issues between January 28 and February 1. The workshops will be held in Alpine, Borrego Springs, El Centro, Pine Valley, Ramona, San Diego, Temecula, and Warner Springs. The CPUC Commissioner assigned to the case, Dian M. Grueneich, will attend three Public Participation Hearings to be held in Borrego Springs, Pine Valley, and Ramona on February 25 and 26. Formal evidentiary hearings with expert witness cross-examination are scheduled for April in both San Diego and San Francisco. Additional information about the workshops and hearings is provided below, as well as the schedule for the remainder of the proceeding.

SDG&E's proposed route for Sunrise crosses roughly 25 miles through the Anza-Borrego State Park. As required by law, the CPUC and BLM environmental staffs have worked with parties to analyze alternative routes that bypass the park. The environmental study addresses not only the 150-mile proposed route, but also alternative routes - many proposed by participants in the public comment process. Also required by law, the study considers a range of non-transmission alternatives to the line, including generation-based alternatives and a no-project alternative.

Cognizant of the reliability risks posed by fires in Southern California, the study devotes over 300 pages to the fire risks posed to both the proposed and potential alternative routes.

The draft document identifies several alternatives that are "environmentally superior" to the proposed project. These alternatives are projected to create fewer or less extensive significant and unmitigated impacts than the proposed project, though they do not necessarily meet all of the proposed project's objectives. The alternatives found to be superior to the proposed project include two in-basin generation scenarios and three alternative transmission line routes, including construction of an electrically similar transmission line along a southern route parallel to Interstate 8 and the existing Southwest Powerlink (SWPL). This proposed southern route alternative heads west from the Imperial Valley area and cuts north after 36 miles, thus avoiding Anza-Borrego and the high fire risk areas associated with the SWPL line. It is also 40-miles shorter than the proposed project.

Cost differences between the proposed project and the potential alternatives are among the issues to be addressed in the Phase II hearings scheduled for April.

The draft EIR/EIS, and the final version to be published after public comment, are intended to inform the public and CPUC and BLM decision makers, but not dictate the outcome of their decisions. Thus, the document does not make a recommendation regarding the approval or denial of SDG&E's proposed project. It is purely informational and, when finalized, will be used by the CPUC and BLM in considering whether to approve the proposed project or any of the alternatives analyzed in the document.

An electronic version of the draft EIR/EIS, as well as additional information about the environmental workshops and public participation hearings is available at: